Gargoyles Pendragon: The Swords and the Sun
by Gryphinwyrm7
Summary: A rash of sword thefts from around the world brings Sir Griff and the Knights of New Camelot to Ishimura, to defend the legendary blade Kusinagi. There Griff runs into an old friend, and makes some new enemies.
1. Kusanagi

**Gargoyles: Pendragon**

 **The Swords and the Sun**

 **December 21rst, 1942**

Hildegard Hellstrom had never known what true horror and fear was until this night. Hildy had thought that it was a great honor to be hand chosen by _der führer_ himself to drive his "Angel" to wherever she needed to be.

In this case, Heidelberg, Germany, to cast a spell to summon the Lord of the Hunt to destroy the Allies. That's when it all went to hell. Hitler's angel summoned the creature, but then she cast a second spell to drain the hunter of his power. Before Hildy even realized what was happening, she found herself transformed into a greyhound. Bounding through the village, attacking any human she came across.

If they survived her attack, Hitler's Angel would transform them into a hound as well. Either way, the village was being emptied of humans, one after another.

The worst part was that Hildy's mind remained fully conscious, fully aware of every attack. Everything that she did at the _Der Führer's Engel_ behest, she remembered with crystal clarity.

Just as her hope was all but gone forever, a true Angel descended from the heavens. Ten feet tall, muscular, with a lion's head, but a falcon beak erupting from it's mouth, this strange feathered gargoyle attacked, and killed the horned creature that Hitler's Angel had become.

The Lord of the Hunt's power drained from her, and she fell to the ground dead.

The hounds all transformed back into humans, and the gargoyles vanished. Moments later, the _führer's_ Angel awakened, as though nothing had happened, and started gliding back to the castle.

Hildegard never said anything when the Gestapo made inquiries about the Heidelberg incident, later. She knew that Demona had the _führer_ wrapped around her talon. To speak against her would be to court death itself. She was, fortunately, taken off driving duty for Demona however.

Hidly never let her guard down around the gargoyle again. And…Hildegard began to do research on all German folktales involving gargoyles. She vowed, never to be taken off guard again.

 **March 10** **th** **2004**

Kai, Sora, and Sakura glided over the water towards the small island in the center of the lake.

Ishimura sat along a tributary to the Mogami River. The tributary poured into a small lake with a tiny chain of islands in the center. The islands were uninhabited, and considered sacred to the locals. Small Shinto shrines had been erected upon all four islands.

It was to the centermost of island that the three tengu—gargoyles to westerners—were gliding. They had received a communication to go the island.

Kai was the eldest. Hatched in 1898, he was 106 years old. The equivalent to a 53 year old human. With jade-green skin and two curved back horns atop his head. His tail ended in a dragon-like spade. His wings had far more digits than most gargoyles. Three wing fingers, as well as three wing ribs. He wore a simple blue _keikogi._

Sora was the youngest, at 46, the equivalent of a 23 year old human. She had light pink skin and narrow horns in her hair. She wore a pink kimono and had reduced digits on her hind talons and wing-ribs.

Between the two was Sakura. Her age was an oddity. Though she hatched in 1898 along with Kai, physically she appeared to be 47, around 23, like Sora. This was because in 1938, she found herself a prisoner of a Chinese vampire who used sorcery to keep her locked in stone sleep for years at a time. Thus, she had barely aged by the time she was released, 59 years later.

She had pure white skin, a sharp contrast to her black hair. And the lining of her wings was a deep cherry-red, which had earned her name "Cherry Blossom". She had two wing fingers, and two ribs on her wings, giving her four digits on each of her wings over all, less than Kai's six, but more than most other gargoyles.

Reduced or increased limb-digits were a common trait among Ishimuran gargoyles.

She wore a bright red, small, kimono with golden dragons embroidered upon it, and a jade-green _obi._ Her face and horns looked very similar to Sora's face and horns. Indeed, many of the humans in Ishimura believed that they were biological sisters, though the gargoyles themselves neither knew, nor cared.

All three gargoyles carried a single katana with them.

They landed among the trees upon the island, and quickly darted up the stairway, coming to a large circle of standing stones, believed to have been placed upon the island in the Jomon era.

The two humans sitting among the stones looked up at the three gargoyles.

"Ah, finally," Rory Dugan said, getting up and dusting himself off. He turned towards the large green gargoyle. He was a dusky-red haired man in his mid 20s wearing green and blue clothes.

"You must be Kai," he said. "I'm Sir Rory from New Camelot. This is Dame Parvati."

The other human got up on her feet, and regarded the gargoyles with a curt nod. She appeared to be a 19 year old Indian woman, with blue eyes. She wore a sports-bra and white-tiger patterned yoga pants. No shoes or any other coverings. The bare minimum she could get away with.

"An honor," Kai said bowing back to Rory. "We received your message."

"I thought that Griff was going to be among your number?" Sakura asked, interrupting her brother, who looked slightly annoyed.

"He right here," Rory said tapping on Griff's stone form, kneeling next to him.

"What?" Sakura looked panicked. "Stone at night? Sorcery?!"

"Jet lag," Rory explained. "He'll wake up sometime in the next few hours, as will my pet Berghest."

The three Ishimuran gargoyles noted the stone beast next to Griff.

"How did you come to be on this island, anyway?" Sora asked, frowning. "There are no ferries out here."

"That is a good question," Kai asked suspiciously.

"Sorry," Nick said, shaking his head. "I can't tell you."

Kai cocked an eyebrow ridge.

"Our mode of Transportation is not secure," Rory said. "And until Merlin can find a way to make it properly secure, nobody outside of the Knights are allowed to know about it. Even you."

"I thought that your _Daimyo_ Pendragon-sama liked and respected _temgu_ ," Sakura asked.

"He does," Rory said. "But Fleur worked for the Illuminati, one of our enemies, for quite some time. They have some gargoyles in their number, and it's better to keep our secrets and play it safe than-."

Rory was interrupted by a crackling sound. A lattice of cracks appeared across Griff and Berghest's stone forms. With triumphant roars, Griff and Berghest broke free. Griff then staggered and clutched his head.

"Ugh," He muttered. "Never get used to bloody jet lag."

Griff looked up.

"Hullo. You must be Kai," Griff said, holding out his talon. Kai took it in the warrior's handshake.

"And you must be Griff," Kai said. "The samurai who serves the _Daimyo_ Pendragon. Sakura has told me much about you."

"Hello, Sakura," Griff said, bowing respectfully at the female gargoyle. "Bloody lovely to see you again."

Sakura flushed, but bowed back.

"I wouldn't call Arthur a _Daimyo,_ " Griff said, tapping his beak. "That's a Japanese lord, right? Arthur is a king. The Once and Future King. Isn't _shogun_ the equivalent term?"

"Apologies," Kai said. "Sakura said he commands your knights as did the _daimyo_ once commanded the samurai."

"I doubt he'd object to either term," Rory said, scratching Berghest behind her ears.

"So what brings you to Ishimura, Griff-sama?" Sora asked.

"Perhaps you have come to see our famous mountain hot-springs," Sakura asked, stepping forward an gingerly placing a talon on Griff's arm. Kai and Rory both cocked an eyebrow, but Griff seemed not to notice.

"Or perhaps you came to see someone specific?" Sakura pressed.

"I'm afraid that we're here on business," Griff said. "There's been a rash of sword thefts around the world. And they all have something in common. Each sword was associated with some sort of local legend, and most were reputed to have magical properties."

Kai and Sora exchanged a worried glance.

"After realizing the connection, we started doing research on magic sword legends, so that we could track down the swords first, and prevent the thefts."

"Which brings us to Japan," Rory said. "And the legendary sword _Kusanagi._ "

"We're going to go to Atsusa Shrine, in Nagoya," Griff said. "To guard the sword if we can."

"The sword is not in Nagoya," Kai said quietly.

Griff paused. "What?"

"The Japanese government 'officially' has the sword as being listed there," Kai said, "But it is a lie, to distract any who might try to steal it. _Kusanagi_ is kept here. In Ishimura. In our temple vault."

"You're kidding!" Griff exclaimed.

"It is true, Griff," Sakura said. "What could be a safer place in all of Japan, but in the vault of a clan full of Gargoyles?"

"The sword was last taken out in 1993," Sora said. "For an official state ceremony. When it is called for, one of the clan glides to Nagoya, and delivers the blade to the shrine there. When it is returned to the shrine there, the clan member takes the sword back here to Ishimura."

"You're telling me that the Japanese government knows about you?" Griff demanded.

"No," Kai said shaking his head. "They know that the blade is kept here in Ishimura, but they do not know that gargoyles watch over it. Long ago, the official who set up this system came from Ishimura. He felt strongly that the blade would be safest here, and set this system in place in secret. The government only knows that it needs to send a message to both Ishimura, and Nagoya when the sword is used for state events. Only the shrine maidens at Atsuta know that a gargoyle will deliver them the blade before the event. A secret passed down generations."

"I see," Griff said. "We don't know where the sword thieves are gathering their intel from. It's possible they have gotten wind of the fact that the sword is here."

"What's the plan then?" Rory asked.

Griff scratched his beak for a moment.

"You and Berghest will head to Nagoya like we originally planned," Griff said. "Parvati and I will remain here with the Ishimura clan to watch over the real sword. Hopefully, between all of us, that will cover all our bases."

"Aye-aye captain," Rory said dryly.

"So you will be staying with us for a few nights then," Sakura asked hopefully.

"Looks that way," Griff said. He gestured towards his back, and Parvati leapt on, wrapping her arms around his neck. He then began lumbering up one of the trees.

Rory shrugged and looked towards Kai, who nodded.

"Sister," Kai said, turning and looking at Sakura. "Are you flirting with the English _tengu_?"

"Trying to," she admitted. "Do you think he noticed?"

"I do not," Kai said. "And that is what confuses me. Because I have never seen anything like that before."

"Don't take it personal," Rory said, leaping onto Kai's back in the same way Parvati had for Griff. "Griff's a great guy, but he's sort of married to his work."

"I see," Sakura said, looking a little disappointed. The three Ishimuran gargoyles climbed up the tree after Griff. Sakura then scooped up Berghest and they glided back towards the temple.

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"I'm afraid that we can't get you to Nagoya before sunrise, Dugan-sama," Kai said. "You will have to depart tomorrow night."

The gargoyles and knights had gathered around a small table in the garden.

"It's fine with me," Rory said. "Spent the day watching Griff and Berghest. This will give me a chance to catch up on some sleep before I head out."

Kai nodded. "Umi can show you to a guest room."

Kai's aquatic looking mate bowed to Rory and gestured for him to follow. Berghest nipped quietly after him.

"I actually got a bit of sleep, as Sir Dugan was the one keeping watch," Parvati said. "I am hungry however."

"There are several restaurants in the village," Kai said. "I can take you to—"

"I would prefer to hunt my own food," Parvati said quietly. "If that is allowed."

Kai hesitated "There is a forest nearby stocked with game, that the clan sometimes hunts in when fish and rice are scarce. But special permits are required for humans to hunt there, and they take months to procure."

"I am not a human," Parvati said. Her body glowed green and she transformed into a white tiger. Kai stepped back in surprise. Parvati then shifted back into human form.

"Do your laws prevent a tiger from hunting in the forest?" she asked.

"I suppose not," Kai said. "I will take you to the forest, then."

"Don't use up all of your time," Griff instructed.

"Yes, Sir Griff," Parvati said. "If I cannot catch something within my first hour, I will return to the village and eat the old meat from the restaurants. And I thank you for the opportunity to hunt as a tiger is meant to. I so rarely get the opportunity."

Kai glanced over at Sakura, and made a subtle gesture. He then led Parvati out, leaving Griff and Sakura alone in the gardens.

"Griff-sama," Sakura said. "It would be my honor to give you a tour of Ishimura."

"Sounds like a plan," Griff said. "We can start with the sword."

"Actually," Sakura said. "Perhaps you might like to see the Ishimuran hot springs? They are very relaxing."

"Maybe after this Quest has ended," Griff said.

"Or perhaps something to eat? Your hum—Tiger friend might not have wanted to, but there are some amazing restaurants here in Ishimura. We could get some sushi, or yakisoba…"

"Well, I am a bit peckish," Griff said, stroking his beak. "But I think that securing the sword is first priority. So let's scope out the sword vault, and then we can get something to eat."

"Of…of course," Sakura said. "The vault is just at the end of the hall, inside."

"That's the ticket!" Griff said, grinning jovially, and headed inside.

Sakura sighed exasperatedly.

"I did not mean to eavesdrop," Kawa, a blue-skinned female from Sora's generation said, gliding down next to Sakura. "But that was so painful I could feel it from across the temple."

"I'm fine," Sakura snapped, her eyes flickering red.

"You practically threw yourself at him," Kawa commented. "An invitation to the hot-springs? I would kill for an invitation from the hot-springs from a female like you. Are you certain he doesn't just prefer the company of males?"

"I don't know," Sakura said, looking away. "We spoke often on the phone after I returned to Ishimura. His advice helped me to adjust to this…Time shift. I thought that there was something there. And now he's finally come to Ishimura…and I can't get him to take his mind off his mission."

"He's clearly a fool," Kawa said rolling her eyes.

"It's not his fault," Rory's voice said. Sakura and Kawa looked up.

"Didn't mean to eavesdrop either," Rory said holding up his hands. "Just left my phone out here."

"How is it not his fault that he completely ignores a beautiful female like Sakura throwing herself at him?" Kawa demanded.

"You already know that Griff was time-shifted forward from the Battle of Britain in 1940," Rory said, actually picking up his phone.

"Much like Sakura," Kawa said. Sakura nodded.

"What you probably don't know," Rory said. "Because Griff doesn't like to talk about it; is that in 1940 Griff was quite close with a gargoyle named Una. They probably would have become mates if not for Goliath showing up. And th' war. In the 60 year interim while Griff was gone though…Una chose Leo, Griff's best mate. They had two eggs."

Kawa fell silent.

"So Griff didn't just lose his time," Sakura said. "He lost what he thought might be the love of his life. He never told me that."

"Like I said," Rory said. "He doesn't talk about it much. He spent a couple of months adjusting to his clan in the modern era…but it made him very uncomfortable. His best mate and former girl were a happily married—mated I mean—there's a new rookery generation that looked like the children of his rookery siblings. He just felt out of place."

"A feeling I know quite well," Sakura said. "No offense, Kawa-san."

"None taken," Kawa said.

"Then King Arthur showed up," Rory said. "Gave Griff a chance to slip away from the clan. And do good work. Serving King Arthur was a dream come true for Griff. He'd heard stories about him as a hatchling, and now he was serving as Arthur's First Knight."

"Serving King Arthur is a worthy cause," Rory said. "I know because that's why I—And Parvati—And quite a few others, have all pledged our service to him, because he's doing good work, and making a real difference. And it's an incredible honor to be a part of that."

Sakura perked up as Rory said this. Her interest was piqued.

"But that doesn't mean that Griff isn't throwing himself fully into the work," Rory continued. "He doesn't do it halfway. And I think that part of that is that he's bottling up the pain of losing Una."

"How can you be sure?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I return to Ireland every three weeks," Rory said. "And do my Hero of Ulster thing on my own. My buddy Nick goes back to Queen Florence Island at least once or twice a month to check on things there. Rabbi Loew is back in Prague every week. Fara Maku and Tea take turns going back to Nigeria. Even Parvati returns to India every other month or so. We all have our own protectorates and responsibilities beyond what Arthur gives us, and we all honor those responsibilities."

"But I can't remember the last time Griff went back to London," Rory said. "It's been at least a year. Maybe more."

"He avoids his own clan," Sakura said.

"That's…Awful," Kawa said.

"What's going on out here?"

The trio turned around to see Griff walk back outside.

"Sakura, I thought you were going to show me the sword?" Griff asked. "I found the vault, but it's locked. I can't get in."

"Good," Kawa said. "Then the vault is in fact, doing its job. And you don't need to check on the sword. What you do need to do, is get something to eat. Can't serve your _daimyo_ on an empty stomach."

"Well," Griff said. "That is true."

"Good," Kawa grabbed Sakura and shoved him into Griff's arms. Both gargoyles looked surprised, and then blushed.

"You are going to take this one," Kawa said. "You are going to glide down to the sushi-place in the village, and you are going to eat a big hearty meal. And you are going to do it now. Go. Why are you still standing here? GO. EAT."

"Bossy isn't she?" Griff commented.

"I'm just looking out for Sakura's best interests," Kawa said. "Now go. Before I make you go at swordpoint."

The two gargoyles climbed up the wall and glided off towards the village.

Rory and Kawa looked at each other and smirked.

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 **Rocamadour, France**

Arthur and Fleur quietly sat at the Nightstone's coffee shop, just across the way from the wall where a supposed fragment of Durendal—the fabled sword of Roland—Lay embedded.

They remained silent as they each sipped their coffee, watching the wall intently.

"Do we even know if this is the true sword?" Arthur wondered.

Fleur shook her head. "I have no idea."

"The Illuminati has never been able to confirm that this was the true sword," she said. "Which is likely why it remains where it is."

"They do have a nasty habit of collecting magical talismans," Arthur said, looking annoyed. "Are we sure that they are not responsible for these thefts?"

"Oui," Fleur said. "It is possible. But it doesn't feel like them. It's too bold. Too open. The Illuminati prefers to act in secret, and move from the shadows."

"Fair enough, I suppose," Arthur said shaking his head. Fleur's LexPad began beeping.

Fleur placed her LexPad propped up against the napkin dispenser. She opened the Dalriada Broadcasting App, and immediately Kate Reed's face appeared on the screen.

"This is Kate Reed," the Irish Newscaster declared. "Coming at you from the DBC Newsroom. We've just received word of yet another in these rash of strange sword thefts from around the world. The sword _Hrunting_ has been taken from the New York Metropolitan Museum in broad daylight. Witnesses reported that the thieves were dressed in heavy armor, and escaped in an unmarked hovercraft. No word yet from-."

Fleur muted the DBC broadcast.

"Another one," Fleur said, scratching her chin. " _Hrunting_. I didn't even consider that one might be a target. It's magically sealed in its sheath. Supposedly only the pure of heart can unsheathe it. S'why Duval never tried to claim it. He knew full well it would reject him."

"We only have so many knights under our command," Arthur said.

"Your command Arthur. Zey do not follow me. And I would not want zem too."

"Nevertheless," Arthur said. "Rory, Parvati, and Griff are in Ishimura, Nick and Max are in Germany, Tea and Fara are in Italy. I refuse to send any of my retainers anywhere without backup, and there are far too many blades of legend in this world for us to protect them all."

"Nay, Arthur," Fleur said, quietly. "You have made the right call. The thieves are taking every sword from myth and legend. But the four you have chosen to protect, are among the most prominent blades from myths around the globe—save your own—You cannot protect all the swords. But sooner or later, these thieves will attempt to take these four, springing our trap."

Arthur suddenly stood up.

"Sooner than it might seem, milady," Arthur said, pointing. A large black hovercraft had appeared over the town. Four oddly shaped figures leapt from the back of the craft. One landed atop the wall, and reached down, attempting to loose the wedge of Durendal from the wall. The other three landed on the ground at the base of the wall, and looked up.

Arthur and Fleur gasped in surprise upon seeing them. The first figure was some sort of horrific looking insectoid creature, with four arms and feelers waving wildly from his head. The second figure was a gigantic armadillo standing on his hind legs. The Armadillo wore thick jeans and appeared to have a pair of handguns strapped to his chest. To complete the look, he wore a cowboy hat with a confederate flag buckle on the brim.

The third figure was the largest. At eight and a half feet tall, he'd have given Goliath a run for his money in the size department. He had thick gray skin and huge gorilla like arms. He wore a set of camo-pants and a bandolier. A set of goggles were strapped to his eyes, and his head was that of a rhinoceros, complete with horns.

Only the man struggling to wrest the sword from the wall appeared to be human.

"What manner of Magic is this?" Arthur demanded upon seeing the would-be-thieves. "Even Morgana's sorcery brewed no creatures such as these."

"Not sorcery," Fleur spat. "Science. These half-human beasts are the work of Anton Sevarius. I'd stake my life on it."

"That sword does not belong to you, curs," Arthur said, drawing his own blade from beneath his leather duster.

The Rhino-Mutate looked surprised.

"Seems we have double prizes today," He said smirking. "Doodle-Bug, Tex, let's bring the boss lady two swords."

The other two mutates curled up into balls, and suddenly began rolling towards Arthur and Fleur like a pair of demonic bowling balls.

The timeless royals braced themselves.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	2. Durendal

**Gargoyles: Pendragon**

 **The Swords and the Sun**

 **Part II**

 **April 3rd, 1943**

Hildegard Hellstrom sat at a table in the Berlin library, leafing quietly through Angus Canmore's magnum opus, _Demons in the Night_. She quietly flipped the page and copied some notes from English into German on her notepad, and examined the illustrations, when she heard a man clear his throat. She glanced up, and then immediately leapt to her feet at attention.

"Apologies, Baron Wolfgang," she said. "I did not see you there."

"Do not apologize child," the Baron said. "You are bettering yourself through knowledge. Though you come from peasants, you are of Aryan stock. I expect nothing less from you, child."

"Thank you, Herr Baron," she said, gratefully.

"And _was ist_ the subject of your studies," the baron asked, picking up the book and examining the title. He read it and chuckled softly to himself. "Curious about the _Führer's Engel?_ "

"On the contrary," Hildy said. "I know everything I need to know about her. I am curious, however, about her kind."

"Go on then." The baron pressed.

"If the human race developed the Aryan Bloodline," she said. "As humanity's true Master Race. Then I believe that the gargoyle kind might also develop a Master Race of their own."

"An interesting theory," The baron said, looking far more intrigued than Hildy expected him to. She had thought that her line of thinking on this matter was unique. That no one would understand her thought process.

"So many clans, and appearances," she continued, emboldened by the baron's interest. "It has taken some time to work out, but I now think that the Master Race…or perhaps Master Clan of gargoyles is somewhat obvious."

"German stock, no doubt," the Baron said.

"I think not, Herr Baron," she said quietly. "The stories I've found regarding German gargoyles indicate inferior breeds."

"Really?" the baron said, looking surprised.

"Not only are the appearances of German gargoyles quite ridiculous," she continued. "But the last known clan was destroyed sometime in the 15th century. If they were of the superior bloodline, then they would have survived into the present."

" _Der Führer's Engel,_ then?" the Baron asked.

"Scottish 'Demonbreed'," she sneered. "Hardly. The Demonbreed are the result of mixed bloodlines among Scottish Gargoyle Clans. The _Führer's_ pet is the end result of this inferior breeding. I was her driver for two years. She is not mentally stable."

"Best be careful with careless words, _Fraulein_ Hellstrom," the Baron said. "They can be dangerous."

Hildy ignored the Baron, opening up Angus Canmore's book and opening it to the page she had been examining when the baron had approached her table. A hand drawn image of a griffin and a winged lion, standing back to back.

"The Heraldic Breed," she said, smirking. "Found in the British Isles and northern France."

"Are not this breed extinct too?" the baron wondered.

"No, Herr Baron," she said. She picked up a folder, clearly taken from the SS archives.

"Christoph Bollinger," she said. "Fighter pilot of the Third Reich, was part of a battalion dispatched to bomb London two years ago. He survived the firefight, though his plane did not. He managed to make it back behind Axis lines, in spite of his poor position. When he returned, he spoke of gremlins sabotaging his plane. The Gestapo covered it up, and silenced Herr Bollinger."

The Baron opened up the folder to a hand-drawn sketch of the creature who had attacked Bollinger's plane.

"He was an amateur artist," Hildy said. "With a flawless memory. He sketched that."

"No doubt," Baron Wolfgang said looking at the sketch of a griffin-shaped gargoyle ripping off the canopy of a Luftwaffe plane.

"Gargoyles in Britain. The _Führer_ will want to know."

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 **March 10** **th** **2004**

"You know," Griff said. "When I heard that sushi was raw fish, I had my misgivings."

Griff took a bit of salmon nigiri and dipped it into his soy sauce, before gobbling it up.

"But this is delicious. Why do we even cook salmon?"

"A human habit we picked up," Sakura said. "Like naming. Besides, not all sushi is raw fish. That's just something you westerners seem to think. It would be like me saying that all sandwiches are pastrami."

"I love a good pastrami sandwich, myself," Griff said.

"As I love salmon nigiri," Sakura said. "But it is not the only kind that exists."

She took one of the rolls in front of her with her chopsticks and picked it up. Delicately, she took the salmon-cucumber roll, and popped it into her mouth without the chopsticks ever touching her lips.

"Sushi is considered a snack food _or_ a meal here in Japan," she said. "It can be eaten as a finger food, or with chopsticks, though finger-food is the preference. Japanese people prefer our sushi rolls to be quite simple. A single protein wrapped in rice, such as salmon or crab, with maybe a single vegetable, such as these salmon-cucumber rolls."

"Westerners, however," she said, smiling. "Enjoy these complex rolls, with different fillings, vegetables, and sauces covering them, with toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top, and spicy mayonnaise on the side."

She wrinkled her nose.

"I don't care much for those. Sushi should be simple, in my opinion. But Jiro, who owns this restaurant, he knows both traditional sushi, popular with locals. But he also knows the flavors westerners like. I told him that you had never had any sushi before, and he decided to bring you everything."

"Tell him that I appreciate it," Griff said smiling. "Because everything is delicious."

"He speaks English, Griff," Sakura said, smirking. "He trained in New York."

"Ah…" Griff looked abashed. Sakura, on the other hand, looked quite pleased with herself for finally capturing Griff's undivided attention. Unfortunately, it was short-lived.

"We should probably finish up," Griff said. "It's getting early, and I do want to see that sword before dawn."

Sakura slumped back in her seat, irritated and not at all proper.

 _Stupid one-track mind,_ she thought to herself.

"We can have them wrap up the remaining rolls and nigiri to go," she said. "The temple has a refrigerator we can keep our leftovers in."

"I must admit," Griff said. "This is pretty amazing. Humans and gargoyles dining out together at a restaurant; this is how it could be one day. This is how it _should_ be."

He turned towards Jiro at the sushi counter.

"How much do I owe you?" he asked. "I'm a bit old fashioned. I feel that the fellow ought to pay for the meal."

This brought a grin to Sakura's face.

" _Tengu_ do not pay," Jiro said. "It is our honor to serve food to you and your kin as a thank you for protecting our village."

"Perhaps," Griff said. "But I'm a guest in your town. And I know full well that we gargoyles can easily eat twice what you humans do. A free meal for anyone comes out of your pocket. You can't ignore your bottom line."

"Griff," Sakura said. "Gargoyles don't use money? When have we ever needed such a thing?"

"My clan uses money," Griff replied simply. "We legally own our shop, _Knight's Spur_ Estate, and the property that both buildings rest on. We pay taxes. We purchase food and amenities such as water, electricity, and television. We believe in free market trade, because we live it. And in my clan, not paying for a meal is the same as stealing it."

Sakura frowned. What Griff said was not something she had ever considered before. She had taken for granted all her life that the villagers would give any member of the clan a free meal at any time, as a thank you. But before now, it never occurred to her that such an exchange might cut into their profits. She knew that the shopkeepers would insist that it was their honor to do so, but she now wondered how much that actually stacked up over the years.

" _Tengu_ do not pay," Jiro insisted.

"I insist that I do," Griff said. "It would dishonor my clan if I did not."

This, Jiro seemed to understand, and finally accepted Griff's debit card, swiping it and handing it back to the British Gargoyle. Griff bowed politely and thanked the sushi-chef.

Griff held the door for an introspective Sakura as the two departed from the restaurant for the evening.

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Fleur leapt out of the way, while Arthur stood his ground. Neither tactic worked. The woodlouse mutate simply turned and followed Fleur, slamming into her legs hard, and knocking her down.

The Armadillo-Mutate rolled into Arthur and slammed him into the wall. Despite himself, he actually dropped Excalibur. The Rhino-Mutate grinned but before he could make a move, Arthur rolled forward and grabbed the sword back up. He then pulled out the sheath, and with a swift motion flipped it around, before spinning and striking the Armadillo with the sheath like a lacrosse ball and sent him rolling back to the rhino.

"Did somebody get the name of that longhorn?" the Armadillo demanded, staggering to his feet.

The rhino-mutate rolled his eyes.

"Tex, you are the worst mercenary ever," he said. The Rhino turned and looked at Arthur, grinning, he began pawing the ground with his feet... "Looks like I'm going to have to do it myself."

The mutate lowered his head and charged at Arthur. The king paused, picking his moment. Seconds before the rhino would have hit him; he leapt out of the way. Unfortunately, Arthur misjudged the Rhino-Mutate's strength. The mutate slammed into the wall behind Arthur, and knocked it down completely, revealing a small sword-sized shrine behind the wall, with a box inside it.

Worse still, the debris hit Arthur's shoulder, knocking Excalibur loose from his hand. He staggered back in pain.

"Forget that sword up there!" the Rhino called, snatching the long narrow box from the shrine. "It's for the tourists. This one is the real deal."

"I cannot let you pass with that blade," Arthur said, picking up his sword, but wincing in pain.

"You can't really stop me, either," The mutate replied. He lowered his head and charged at Arthur once more. This time, however, when Arthur tried to dodge, he veered toward the king and slammed into him, making certain to hit the arm he was gripping in pain.

Excalibur clattered to the ground, and in a heartbeat, the Rhino had the sword in his other hand.

"No!" Arthur yelled. Fleur, who had dispatched the woodlouse mutate with relative ease (he lay unconscious by the table at the Nightstone's Coffee House) ran over to Arthur's side.

"Forget me," Arthur said. "The Scabbard will heal me momentarily."

A soft blue glow was already spreading from Excalibur's scabbard onto Arthur's body.

"Retrieve Excalibur immediately!"

Fleur nodded at the king, and reached into her jacket, pulling out a red torch.

"Going to blind me, with that?" the Rhino asked, laughing.

Fleur ran towards the mutate, and with a flick of the switch turned on, not the flashlight function, but the taser. She jabbed the sparking torch into the Rhino's stomach and he let out a cry of pain, dropping both the box, and Excalibur.

Fleur wasted no time. She knew she couldn't beat the mutate hand to hand. So instead she grabbed Excalibur, and drove the blade into one of the large chunks of stone that had come loose from the wall the Rhino-mutate had destroyed. The sword sunk in like soft butter, and the rock glowed blue.

She released her grip on the blade and rolled out of the Rhino's path. He bellowed angrily, before staggering to his feet. He lunged forward and grabbed the old sword-box. He lunged forward to grab Excalibur as well, but the sword would not budge. Not even for the gigantically strong mutate.

"Excalibur is mine," Arthur said, standing up, his sheathe having fully healed him. "No man but myself is capable of pulling that sword from that stone."

"Excalibur," The Rhino Marveled.

"At least we know you ain't the One True King of Britain," Tex the mutate-armadillo crowed. "Eh, Panzer?"

Panzer snorted.

"Too rare a find to leave behind though." Panzer called back to Arthur. "I can't force you to draw it and give it to me. And I can't leave it behind. I've too much riding on this to do that."

Panzer reached forward, and hefted up the entire rock, sword and all, onto his shoulder.

"I'd wager a jackhammer can get the sword loose just as easily as a Once and Future King. Tex, Doodle-Bug…we're going now."

Arthur moved to stop the mutates, but it was too late. Panzer grabbed a hold of the hovercraft rope ladder, handing the box containing Durendal up to the Armadillo-Mutate above him. He glanced over at the unconscious woodlouse-mutate, but decided that he wasn't worth losing the swords over. The Armadillo and Rhinoceros Mutates scampered up the ladder and into the hovercraft, which took of eastward.

"No!" Arthur yelled, but it was too late.

"They have Excalibur!"

"It's worse than that Arthur," Fleur said quietly. "Nick reports that a Alligator Snapping-Turtle Mutate has taken _Balmung_ from Germany, and Fara Maku says that a crocodile mutate has claimed the Bishop's Sword in Rome. We've lost every sword we set out to protect save one."

"Then we must hurry to join the others in Japan," Arthur said. "These beast-warriors will not be stopped. They wish to lay claim to every enchanted blade on this earth. Protecting _Kusinagi_ is my only chance of reclaiming Excalibur from them."

"Agreed," Fleur said. "Fortunately we do have one more advantage."

"We do?" Arthur exclaimed in surprise.

" _Oui,_ " Fleur said. "I planted a tracer on the Rhino when I tased him. We can track their movements, as long as they don't find the tracer too quickly."

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It was nearly dawn when Rory finally was able to track down his beast. He had awakened from his sleep not so long ago to find Barghest _not_ at his side, which had, in turn given him a panic attack.

"There you are, Barghest," Rory said, trotting up to his beast in the Zen garden at the center of the Ishimura temple. "It's not like you to wander off. You had me worried girl."

"I think that Barghest found a friend in Shisa," Sakura smirked, pointing at a large red Ishimuran beast with horns, which playfully nipped at Barghest.

"Ach," Rory exclaimed in annoyance. "Aren't you a bit young to be taking a mate, girl?"

"Actually, that is about the right age for beasts," Sakura said. "Shisa's a bit older, and I'm glad he found a mate. Too many males, not enough females in the last clutch. But now that these two have found each other, they can contribute an egg to the rookery in 2008."

"Barghest only hatched in 1998," Rory said. "She'll not be laying eggs until 2028. I know the life-cycles of beasts quite well. They get one more heat than you gargoyles, because they mature earlier, but they don't mature _that_ fast. She's still too young."

"Shisa is from the 1978 rookery," Sakura replied. "That's not a big age gap where gargoyles are concerned and especially where beasts are concerned. But you are right, she's too young to produce an egg this cycle."

"Looks like they're mated anyway though," Griff commented.

"It would be a shame to break them up," Sakura said, nodding at Kai. The large green gargoyle nodded back at her.

"Shisa may go with you when the time comes to depart," he said, bowing. "With the blessings of Ishimura."

"More the merrier," Rory said, bending down and petting both beasts.

Griff sighed wistfully. "Does my heart good to see and be around beasts again. I have missed them terribly."

"We should take our places," Sakura said. The gargoyles began climbing up the temple walls and taking positions along the temple roof. Shisa and Barghest remained nuzzling up to each other in the garden.

Rory's phone began ringing. He quickly answered it.

"Griff!" he said, after listening for a beat.

"What is, it, Rory?" Griff called down. "Speak quickly."

"All of the other knights lost their charges," he said. "The thieves are armored mutates. They stole every other sword. They also stole Excalibur."

"What!?" Griff yelped.

"Fleur says that they're definitely headed our way. Headed east, anyway. She and Arthur will join us during the day. They're be here before you wake up."

"I should bloody hope s-," Griff was cut off by the rising sun, trapping his look of anxiety for his king in stone for the day. Each of the Ishimura clan froze as well.

Rory reached down and pet Barghest and Shisa's stone forms for a moment, before turning towards Constable Hiroshi with a worried look on his face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Excalibur, Durendal, _Hrunting, Balmung_ , the Bishop's Blade, not to mention countless others," Fleur commented as the two royals appeared in the center of the Antarctic Dance underneath Castle Carbonek in New Camelot. "What do they want with all these swords? And why the mutates?"

"A better question," Arthur said. "None of us could beat these half-human creatures in fair combat; so how do we get the swords back?" 

_**To be continued…**_


	3. Excalibur

**Gargoyles: Pendragon**

 **The Swords and the Sun**

 **Part III**

 **April 30th, 1945**

Hildegard Hellstrom staggered into the Berlin library shaking violently. Tears were streaming down her face.

"My child," Baron Wolfgang demanded, running up to her. "I feared the worst for you…"

"It's over, Baron," Hildy said bitterly. "The Russians have taken Berlin, the Americans and British will be here soon, and the _führer…_ He is…He is dead. Murdered by that-."

Hildy shook her head.

"We have lost," she said. "The Third Reich is no more."

"Then we must prepare," The Baron said. "We must prepare and build our glorious FOURTH Reich."

"It will never come to pass," Hildy said bitterly. "The Allies will see to that. They will never-."

"My dear child," Baron Wolfgang interrupted her. "Of COURSE it will come to pass, with the right friends, in the right places, and the right timing, all will eventually see the Light."

Baron Wolfgang gestured towards the shadows. A tall bald man in a German SS Officer's Uniform stepped out. His head was bald, and his face heavily scarred. An eye-patch covered his left eye.

"Hildegard Hellstrom," Wolfgang declared. "I would like you to meet my friend, Baron Valmont von Duval."

"A pleasure, my dear," Baron Valmont said. "You were right, Wolfgang. A perfect example of Aryan perfection, and just the right person to lead the Fourth Reich, when the time comes."

"I knew that she would be perfect for the Society." Wolfgang said.

"Baron? What are you talking about? What is happening?" Hildy asked. There was an explosion outside the Library.

"Allow me to…Enlighten you, my dear."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **March 10** **th** **, 2004**

With a triumphant roar, Griff awakened, spraying shards of stone skin everywhere. He noticed right away that he was alone atop Ishimura's temple wall, although he could see Sakura and Barghest (who was shaking off her own stone skin) below him in the Zen Garden.

"Stupid jet-lag," he muttered in annoyance. Clearly he wasn't fully adjusted yet, though based on the light level, he'd wager that he'd only been stone for an additional 15 minutes.

"Faster than last night," Sakura commented as Griff glided down next to her.

"It usually doesn't take long to adjust," Griff said.

"Ah good, Sir Griff," King Arthur said, stepping outside. "You have awakened."

"Awakened and ready to help you reclaim Excalibur," Griff said, his eyes flickering white.

"I say thee nay, Sir Griff," Arthur replied.

"What?" Griff said, baffled. "We can't just leave the blade in enemy hands!"

"I agree," Arthur said. "Which is why Tea and I are going to reclaim it. But I want you here guarding _Kusanagi._ "

"Your Majesty," Griff yelped. "You can't be serious! This is Excalibur we're talking about here. You need me at your side."

"Excalibur is a powerful magical sword," Arthur said. "As is _Kusanagi._ The difference is that Excalibur is mine alone. _Kusanagi_ belongs to the Japanese people. People we swore an oath to defend. You know that, Sir Griff."

Griff growled angrily, his eyes glowing white, but he nodded.

"That makes _Kusanagi_ more important than Excalibur," Griff acknowledged.

"And I would not have anyone but my most trusted knight guarding it," Arthur said.

"I understand," Griff said. "I don't have to like it though."

"I believe that Tea is more than equal to the task of helping retrieve Excalibur," Arthur said.

"As am I," Sakura said, suddenly speaking for the first time since Griff and Arthur's exchange happened. The pair looked at her. She stepped forward and placed a talon on Griff's shoulder.

"On my word," Sakura said. "As a samurai and a _tengu_ , I promise to help you reclaim your stolen blade, _Daimyo_ Pendragon-sama."

"Your help is accepted," Arthur said. "And I am grateful. Come Barghest. Rory is waiting for you, so he can depart for Nagoya."

"He's still going?" Griff asked in surprise as the beast trotted over to Arthur.

"Your original plan is sound, Sir Griff,' Arthur said. "We make this a three-pronged attack. Tea, Sakura, and I will attempt to intercept the thieves using Queen Blanchefleur's tracker. Rory and Barghest will wait at the decoy location in Nagoya with a handful of the Ishimuran gargoyles. But you, Dame Parvati, and the majority of the Ishimura clan will remain here, to guard the true sword."

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Griff stood silently in front of the temple vault while Parvati paced back and forth in front of him.

"Must you do that?" Griff commented.

"My body may be human," Parvati said. "But my mind is still that of a tiger. We don't like sitting still for long periods of time. It makes us anxious."

"How much time do you have?" Griff asked.

"The full two hours," she said. "I haven't transformed since the sun set."

"That must be difficult for you."

"It is not ideal, no," she said, still pacing back and forth. "But I have a feeling that something is going to happen soon. I think humans call it a 'gut instinct'. I didn't want to waste a second."

"It's unlikely the thieves will be coming here," Griff said. "How could they know where the sword really is? They'll likely attack Nagoya, where they think it is. Or get intercepted by Arthur. Either way, we're not likely to see much action here."

"Then why is my hair standing on end?" Parvati asked, as though that meant something.

Griff opened his beak to answer, but before he could speak, and explosion rocked the whole temple. Parvati glowed green, and then transformed into her tiger form.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I still don't understand where this hovercraft came from," Kawa complained as Fleur flew closer and closer to the blinking light on the RADAR screen.

Kawa and Sakura had flown Arthur out to the island where the standing stones were…the same location that Sora, Kai, and Sakura had met Griff and Rory the previous night. Waiting there for them, in the center of the ring of stones, was a harrier jet, with the dragon-crest emblazoned on the side.

"I purchased it from Macbeth," Arthur said.

"That's not what I meant," Kawa said.

"There!" Tea yelled from the copilot's seat. Arthur nodded. The black, unmarked hovercraft was now visible on the horizon. She leapt to her feet, and grabbed her rifle. Fleur pressed a button panel on the dashboard, and the doors slid open.

Kawa grabbed Tea, and Sakura grabbed Arthur. The gargoyles leapt out of the harrier jet, and launched themselves at the black hovercraft. With swift, quiet motions the gargoyles glided over the forest toward the hovercraft, and landed on the side.

Kawa's eyes flickered red, and she ripped the door off the hatch, tossing it into the woods below.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Aw man," the weary hiker muttered to himself. "Can you believe it? I am so lost in these woods. Mr. Yamashita is gonna kill me! I was supposed to be back with the thing hours ago."

Suddenly, a massive hunk of metal crashed into the ground in front of the hapless wanderer, causing him to jump back in surprise and alarm.

"I nearly got nailed by a falling door, AGAIN?" he exclaimed in surprise. "Can you believe it? Same thing happened in New York, eight years ago!"

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Tea leapt in, her rifle drawn. Arthur quickly followed. The two gargoyles remained clinging to the exterior of the craft as Arthur quickly surveyed the occupants.

The Rhinoceros Mutate "Panzer" whom he had encountered in France, and a new mutate that Arthur hadn't seen before, but matched Natsilane's description of an Alligator-Snapping Turtle mutate. His eyes narrowed at the sight.

The stone, with Excalibur still embedded within sat in the corner. There were hunks of broken stone all about it, and a massive crack in the stone. Which glowed blue and then sealed up. The one human in the craft grunted and threw the jackhammer aside in frustration.

A beautiful blond woman in her 30s dressed in a black uniform struggled to her feet. Arthur noted a small pile of swords behind her. Her piercing blue eyes glared at the intruders. Arthur noticed a strange patch on her shoulder. A red band with a white circle in the center. Within the circle, a smaller black circle with jagged edges like lightning bolts in all directions around the circumference of the white patch.

" **Your efforts are Pointless, Hildegard Brünhilde Hellstrom,"** the Stone of Destiny spoke in its deep gravely voice.

" **I am the Fatal Stone. The Lia Fáil. The Stone of Bethel and Jerusalem, of Egypt, Samothrace, and Portugal. The Stone at Tara and of Mora, at Iona and of Scone, in London and in Edinburgh. I am the Blarney Stone, the Coronation Stone, the Hero Stone, I am the Pillar Stone, the Stone of the Sword, the Stone of the Waters, Clach-na-Cinneamhain, The Tanist Stone, the Philosopher's Stone, the Standing Stone, the Cornerstone, The Foundation Stone, the Megalith Dance, the Burden of Sisyphus, I am the Rock of Gibraltar, the Pillar of Hercules, Uluru, Clach Sgáin, Jacob's Pillow, the Rosetta Stone, the Rune Stone, Sire of the Wyrd, I AM THE MANTLE OF FATE, I AM THE STONE OF DESTINY, I AM THE ROCK OF AGES! Do not dream of breaking me, mortal."**

" **This sword may only be drawn from my grasp by its proper owner,"** the rock said.

"Which is I." Arthur said. The angry looking blond woman looked up at him.

"You?" she said.

"I am Arthur Pendragon," he said, his eyes narrowing.

"King Arthur himself?" she said, her German accent now somewhat more noticeable. "Impossible. You are not due to awaken for another two hundred years!"

"Nevertheless," Arthur said. "I am he, and Excalibur is mine."

"And who is she? The Lady in the Lake?" Hildy sneered.

"I am Tea Gora," Tea said, her rifle trained upon the two mutates, who up till now, had not moved. "The Panther Knight."

"Panther knight?" Panzer snorted. "Now I know you're full of it. No way that _the_ King Arthur would knight a kaffir woman!"

Tea's eyes widened in shock. Arthur frowned. He had never heard that word before, but Tea's reaction to it surprised even him.

"How dare you!" Tea said. And to Arthur's shock, she threw her rifle to the ground. Her body glowed in bright colors, and she shifted into her panther form. A form that Arthur knew that Tea chose only as a last resort…a last resort, or she was angered beyond human reason.

"And now you will face her wrath," Arthur said. "Seldom is my Panther Knight so angry that she transforms, but transform she has. She is a warrior as fierce as any of my old Round Table."

The former poacher-turned-panther lunged forward and attacked the mutate, leaping onto his back and slashing violently with her claws. The other mutate stared in shock for a moment. Then lunged to help his comrade.

This was when Sakura and Kawa decided to intervene and leapt upon the mutate.

"Demonbreed!" Hildy spat.

Arthur confidently strode forward, and gripped Excalibur. He placed his foot on the stone, and pulled. The sword yielded and drew the sword from the stone. The glowing rock roared as the blade came loose.

"I am, Arthur Pendragon," Arthur said. "And this sword does not belong to you. Nor do any of the others you have taken. You will return them now."

"I think not," Hildy said, picking up a single sheathed blade from a small stack of swords behind the stone. All of the stolen blades.

She held up the sheath, a bizarre looking sword holder, looking very much like the arm and skin of a gargoyle, sewn onto a tube of some kind. The talon wrapped tightly around the sword's hilt.

" _Hrunting,_ " Hildy purred. " _Abannan afol Beowulf_ "

"The sword of Beowulf is enchanted so that only the pure of heart may release it from its sheath," Arthur said, recognizing the Viking name in the incantation.

"It is fortunate for me, then," Hildy said, the gargoyle talon opened, and she slowly, almost seductively slid the blade loose from its holder's grasp.

"Fortunate that through my heart, pumps the bloodline of the pure Aryan Race."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Griff was shocked to see a giant armadillo in a cowboy hat. He had seen many strange things since becoming a Knight of the Round Table. But this was by far one of the strangest.

Parvati snarled and lunged at the Armadillo-Mutate.

"I recon that's a bat idea, kitty," Tex said. The four pangolin mutates behind him curled up into balls and rolled forward, slamming into the tiger hard and rendering her unconscious on the ground.

Griff fired his lightning gun at one of the mutates, electrocuting it and rendering it unconscious as well.

"You may be armored and thick skinned," Griff said, smirking. "But I'm a crack shot with this thing, and even you aren't electric proof."

"I recon you are purdy good shot with those," Tex said. Then in a flash, his own guns were drawn from their holsters on his chest. At first glance, Griff had thought them old-fashioned revolvers. But now that they were drawn, he could see clearly that they were only mocked up to look like revolvers. These were high-yield particle guns from Xanatos Enterprises.

Tex smirked and fired a blast that Griff barely had time to dodge, leaping behind a samurai statue in the hallway. The beam actually singed the feathers on his left wing, it was that close.

"But see," Tex said. "I reckon I'm a purdy good shot with these beauties myself. So way I sees it, gargoyle, we got ourselves here a good old fashioned showdown."

"So it would seem," Griff said, taking aim and firing from behind his post at another pangolin mutate.

"Picking off my posse one by one," Tex said, grinning. "I can respect that. But I can't abide it either. Or did you forget why we was fighting in the first place?"

He took aim with one of the guns and fired at the vault door, blasting a massive hole in it. It fell off its hinges, slamming to the ground.

He smirked, took his hat off, placing it over his heart, he curled up into a ball and rapidly rolled into the vault. Griff fired wildly at him, but only managed to hit a third pangolin mutate.

Tex uncurled inside the vault and smashed the glass covering the sword.

"Don't look like no Jap sword," he muttered.

"It's not a katana," Griff said, standing blocking the entrance with his full body and flared wings. The final pangolin mutate lay unconscious by Griff's feet.

"It's a different sort of blade. Older than a katana. So the magic is more potent."

"Good to know," Tex said, smirking at the gargoyle.

"You can't get past me," Griff said.

"Why would I want to get past you?" Tex said. "Your gun's back in your belt. Mine are in my chest holsters. S'far as I'm concerned, this is exactly what I came here for. Good old-fashioned showdown. Just like my pappy talked 'bout."

"You ready, garg?" Tex asked. Griff's eyes narrowed.

"Draw!" Tex yelled.

 _ **To be concluded…**_


	4. Hrunting

**Gargoyles: Pendragon**

 **The Swords and the Sun**

 **Part IV**

 **June Sixth, 1997**

Hildegard Hellstrom burst through the doors of the Diogenes Club, storming past several dozen indignant stuffily dressed old men.

"Miss you can't be in here," one man attempted to say, but Hildy stormed past him angrily, ignoring him entirely. She grabbed the man attempting to block her's fingers, and with a swift cracking motion, broke them.

She then stormed into the private room at the very back of the club.

A tall man—Seven feet tall, at least—covered with scars was standing in the room, talking to the other man.

The other man was rather short, and dumpy. He casually reclined in his chair, and took puffs from his cigar. A bowl of jellybeans sat on the table next to him. A pin on his lapel depicted a pyramid with an eye over it.

"—and that is why I feel that I should be given an opportunity to speak with this 'Coldstone' on my own. I feel that it's vital that we learn how…"

The tall, scared man stopped speaking as Hildy stormed up to the man in the leather chair.

"Where is it?" Hildy demanded.

"Ahem," the smoking man said. "Miss Hellstrom. Formalities _must_ be observed."

"Of all the asinine-," Hildy raged angrily. "Fine, 'M'. THIRTY. Are you happy?"

"Eighteen," the scarred man said, almost reflexively.

"Three," M said. "Now. You have a problem, Miss Hellstrom?"

"You know damned well that I do! Where IS it?"

"Where is what, Miss Hellstrom?" M replied. "The Society keeps track of over a thousand artifacts and magical objects at any given time."

"And when the time is right," Hildy said. "You swoop in and take them. Now where is it? Where is the _führer's_ symbol of power? WHERE IS THE SPEAR OF DESTINY?"

"Last time I checked, Austria," M said casually.

"The REAL spear, not Charlemagne's fake." Hildy said.

"As I recall," M said. "You smuggled it to Brazil as your first assignment for the Society."

" _Ja_ ," Hildy said. "Where it was stolen last month by Demona's henchmen, taken to her home in New York and reunited with the Spearhead after fifty-two years. Where she tried, and failed to use it to destroy humanity—failed—and after that, the spear just up and vanishes. I think not. This stinks of your handiwork, M. One of your layered plans. So many low level operatives in New York. Xanatos, Thailog, Castaway, that Gargoyles Task Force cop? Any one of them could have been conscripted to reclaim the Spear in the aftermath of Demona's defeat. The WHOLE Spear. My _Führer's_ Spear."

M put out his cigar in the ashtray next to his jellybeans.

"The Spear is back in its rightful place," he said quietly. "Where it belonged from the beginning. Where it never should have left, but did. It's enough that it is safe. Leave it alone, Miss Hellstrom."

"It is not enough," Hildy said. "You know full well that I've been petitioning the Society for years to start up my Fourth Reich and take back the world, and make it rightfully Aryan."

The tall, scarred man regarded Hildegard with an air of disgust, but said nothing else.

"My plan…my proposal hinged on finding out where Ravencroft hidl the spear tip," Hildy said. "Now that we have it, we can set my plan in motion."

"Patience Miss-," M started to say.

"I have been patient for 52 years," Hildy snapped. "It is time to set right what once went wrong."

"We disagree," M said. "It is not yet time for the Fourth Reich to begin. Not as long as men and women who remember the Third one still live. Wait a few more decades, until—,"

"I will not wait anymore," she snapped. "I want justice. Restitution. I have been skulking in the shadows for fifty-two years!"

"And Duval has been waiting one thousand, four hundred and fifty five years," M said. "You can wait three more decades to—You're going to interrupt me again, aren't you?"

Hildy was boiling.

"You've been stringing me along, haven't you?" she demanded. "A half a century of lies to get me to fall in line. I may have moved up six ranks, but you're still feeding me the same bullshit that you feed to all the little Thirty-Sixes. The lies you tell to keep them in line."

M took a deep breath and sighed heavily.

"If you won't help me," she said. "Then I'll do it myself. Without your help, and without the Spear."

"Is that why you contracted Anton Sevarius to learn about the viability of Armored Mutates?" M asked, and suddenly Hildy was off guard.

"You knew about that?" she gasped.

"You will find, my dear," M said. "That there is very little that goes on that I do not know about."

"It doesn't matter," she said, "You made an error M. You taught me how to play your little Society's long game. Well now I can play it too. I'll have control of Europe within a decade."

"Adam," M said, turning toward the scarred man. "Would you be so kind as to escort Miss Hellstrom out of the building. She's becoming a bother."

'Adam' quietly walked up to Hildy, grabbed her arm, and forcefully shoved the German woman out of the room.

M pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number.

"Three," he said over the phone. "Just as I predicted, Duval. You leaked the information about the Spear to her, and she was in the Diogenes Club within a month. She will unleash her Neo-Nazis upon the world, and likely cause quite a bit of carnage and chaos in the process."

"Yes," M replied to the voice on the phone. "It will probably take a few years; she did learn patience from the Society. Not enough patience, mind you, but patience enough to serve her. What I still don't understand, is why you wanted me to activate this particular plan right now."

"A distraction?" M wondered. "A distraction for whom?"

Duval said nothing more, and M closed his phone, just in time for Adam to walk back into the room.

"Ah, excellent, Adam. Now…you were saying about Coldstone?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **March 11** **th** **2004**

Orange lightning erupted from Hildy's blade as she tossed the sword sheath aside. She pointed the blade at Arthur, and the orange magical energy surged at him.

In a heartbeat, Arthur grabbed his scabbard and held it up, the lighting slamming into the scabbard, which glowed blue and absorbed all of the energy.

Hildy surged forward and struck at the Once and Future King with her sword, and Arthur parried with Excalibur. Blue and orange lightning surged through out the cabin. And suddenly alarms began to go off as the craft began violently shaking while loosing altitude.

"No!" Hildy shrieked as the small pile of swords slid across the cabin and right out of the door to the craft.

"NO!" she screamed angrily, and more orange lightning erupted everywhere.

Her eyes snapped open, and she glared at him, angrily.

"Do you have any idea what you've cost me? How far you've set my plans back by?"

She angrily raised her sword and rushed at Arthur. Arthur raised his sword again, preparing to parry, and once more trigger an explosion of power from the two opposing magical blades striking.

It didn't happen. _Hrunting_ was blocked by Sakura's katana, as the gargoyle had now intervened. Orange lightning shot up the ordinary sword blade and arced into Sakura's hands. Her eyes glowed red, and she gritted her teeth in pain, but she did not yield. She surged forward, putting pressure on the sword and forcing her opponent back.

"Japanese Demonbreed!" Hildy spat. More orange lightning arced up the sword, and suddenly Sakura's katana shattered apart. Splintering into shards of steel that went flying all over the interior of the craft.

Hildy grinned and struck at Sakura's now vulnerable neck with her sword. And would have hit it, if Arthur hadn't taken the opportunity to step in again, blocking parrying _Hrunting_ with Excalibur.

The Explosion of orange and blue lightning sent Sakura and Arthur tumbling through the open doors of the hovercraft, plummeting to their doom.

Sakura kept a level head about her though. Knowing better than to flare her wings at these speeds (and getting them broken for her troubles) she pointed her head downward and dove after Arthur, grabbing hold of him and catching him under his armpits. She then quickly, but methodically unfolded her cloaked wings and caught the wind, like a parachute.

Arthur, for his part remained calm until they witnessed the hovercraft slam into the ground below them and exploded.

"Tea!" Arthur exclaimed!

"Kawa!" Sakura said as well.

"Glad to know that you care," Kawa said, gliding up to them from above. Tea was in her arms, back in human form. Tea's hands were covered in mutate blood.

"I liked that rifle," she muttered "It was custom."

The two gargoyles glided to the ground.

"Are you all right?" Arthur asked Tea.

"I'm fine," she said. "And hopefully that bastard racist mutate learned a lesson."

"I doubt it," Arthur said. "In my experience, those whose eyes are blinded by hate do not learn from violence returned to them."

"A fair point, your majesty," Tea nodded. "But hopefully, I at least made him suffer for his…well, let's call it an ill-chosen word."

"Of that, I have no doubt," Arthur agreed. He turned towards Sakura. "And you, I owe my life. You helped me recover my blade, as promised, and you saved me from _Hrunting_ 's dark magic, and from the fall from the craft. I am twice indebted to you. If I can ever repay you…"

"Actually," Sakura said, looking at the hilt of her shattered katana.

"Of course," Arthur said. "Your blade. I will commission a replacement from the finest sword-smith in Japan."

" _Domo,_ " Sakura replied absently. "But there is something else. Something you can do for me…and I can do for you. We could do for each other?"

"You have but to name it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Griff was fast. Tex was faster.

Before Griff had even managed to raise his lightning gun level with the mutate, Tex had fired his particle gun at Griff's talon.

The English gargoyle let out a scream of pain, dropping his own weapon, which clattered, along the floor. Griff gripped his now burned talon in pain.

"Looks like I win," Tex said, grinning.

"Yes," Griff said, his eyes glowing white. "You are the better shot. It's undeniable. But I have other talents." 

With a roar that shook the whole vault, Griff suddenly surged forward and grabbed both of Tex's particle guns, picking them up and crumpling them up in his talons. He then grabbed the mutate by the edges of his armadillo-shell lifted him up, and threw him across the room.

Tex slammed into the nearby wall and looked up at Griff, who had picked up Kusanagi in his left talon, while wincing in pain, and squeezing his burned right talon reflexively.

"My wounds will be gone at sunrise," Griff said. "Will yours?"

"I reckon not," Tex said grinning. "But I've still got one more ace up my sleeve."

An alligator mutate slammed into Griff from behind him, shoving the green gargoyle to the other side of the room.

"Where the heck were you, Nigel?" Tex demanded. "That freak took out all four of my Pangolins"

"Sorry mate," the gator-mutate apologized, Griff taking note of his thick cockney accent. "I had some trouble getting past the gargoyles on th' outside of the temple."

"Just grab the sword and let's go!" Tex yelled.

"I think not," Griff said, holding Kusanagi up in front of him.

"I've had just about enough of you lot," Griff said. He unsheathed the sword.

The straight, narrow blade of the 'Grass-Cutting Blade' began to glow green, and suddenly a massive gust of wind began to pick up in the temple.

"What's all this then?" the alligator demanded.

"I don't rightly know…" Tex started to say, but was interrupted by the wind picking him up and slamming him into Nigel.

A giant swirling windstorm was now raging inside the Ishimuran temple vault. Griff stood at the center of the storm, unfazed by it, holding Kusanagi straight up in the air in front of him.

The wind was now battering the two mutates into each other, and around and around the vault room in a circle.

Griff sheathed the sword, and the winds instantly died down. Tex and Nigel tumbled to the ground, completely unconscious. Griff walked up to the pair, and then frowned, noticing a specific symbol tattooed on Nigel's left shoulder. He hadn't spotted it before, under the green scaly skin, but now that he could see it, he couldn't _not_ see it.

A German Swastika.

"Nazis!" He snarled, angrily. His eyes flickering.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"That's all the swords we found, sire," Tea said. "Fifteen. Sixteen were stolen altogether. One is missing."

"That would be _Hrunting_ ," Arthur said grimly. "The Viking sword that the woman wielded within the craft."

Fleur landed Arthur's hovercraft behind the warriors.

The doors slid open.

"Who even were they, anyway?" Kawa wondered.

"Nazis," Fleur spat angrily.

"Griff's enemies from the Second World War?" Arthur said, his eyes narrowing.

"I witnessed the Rhino-Mutate from France escape with Hildegard Hellstrom. Hildy was recruited at the end of the Second World War to serve as the leader of the Illuminati's more…fanatical branch. Someone to control and direct racism to serve their own ends."

"That is sick," Tea said.

"Why do you think I quit the Illuminati," Fleur said. "My biggest regret is that I didn't do eet sooner. "

Arthur gently placed a hand on Fleur's shoulder, and she softened slightly.

"The Illuminati is many things, but racist isn't one of them. That doesn't mean that they won't manipulate or use racism or racists to serve their end goals, however."

"The problem is that hate that extreme," Arthur said. "It's difficult to control."

"Actually, Arthur," Fleur said. "You're quite wrong on that account. All the Illuminati has to do to control that sort of fanaticism, is point it at the right target."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hildy clutched her sword close to her side, her anger boiling over as she saw Blanchefleur exits the hovercraft. A broken, badly bleeding Panzer leaned up against a tree.

"OF course," she spat. "HER. Of course the Illuminati are trying to stop us. But that's fine. We can handle them."

"With all due respect," Panzer snapped. "No we cannot. They have SIXTEEN magical swords over there, and we have one. I say it's time for a strategic retreat, because we can't beat them in this sorry state."

"Agreed," Hildy said, never taking her eyes off of Fleur.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Sakura…can we talk?" Griff asked the Ishimuran gargoyle.

A full night had passed since the battle. The temple was still in pretty bad shape, but Griff's wounds had healed.

"Of course, Sir Griff," she said, formally greeting him by his knightly title. This raised a flag in Griff's mind, but he wasn't sure why.

"Look," he said, hesitantly. "I know that…I know that you've been attempting to catch my attention. Lord I'd have to be blind not to notice. And…It's not that I don't think that you're an amazing bird, because you are. You're incredible, and I love spending time with you, and…I'm not sure how to put this."

"I understand," Sakura said, placing her talon on his arm.

"Sir Rory told me about Una," she said.

"Did he?" Griff muttered.

"I know that you are not over her. I will…I will back off."

"Look," Griff said. "My emotions on this matter are rather complicated. And the fact is, I may never actually be able to sort them out. I may never be ready for that sort of relationship ever. And I want to be fair to you. I don't want you spending your life waiting for something that may never happen."

"As I said, Sir Griff," Sakura said. "I do understand. I…I am not thrilled. But I do understand. So long as it does not affect our professional relationship."

"Right," Griff said. "Wait…What 'professional relationship'?"

"Bushido dictates," Sakura said. "That a samurai can gain honor, through service to an honorable _Daimyo_ or _Shogun._ "

Arthur, Fleur, Tea, Parvati, Rory and Kai entered the courtyard. Sakura bowed, and stepped forward, taking a katana borrowed from the temple armory, and holding it in front of her.

"I pledge my sword and service to you, King Arthur Pendragon," Arthur drew his blade as Sakura spoke.

"Then with this sword, and by my hand," Arthur said. "I dub thee, Dame Sakura. The Tengu Knight."

Griff was utterly speechless.

From above them, Kawa launched herself off the back of the temple and glided away. Over the forest behind Ishimura, over the river and the lake, landing quietly next to a hovercraft with a different logo emblazoned on the side. A half-moon with a circle within it.

A dark-skinned woman of around 19 years of age stepped out of the craft, alongside a dark-skinned gargoyle with shock-white hair, and Tex, the mutate Armadillo.

They all regarded one another with silent glances and stepped into the hovercraft.

A screen lit up on the wall, and shadowed figure surveyed the motley group.

"Thirty-Six," Kawa said.

"Thirty-Six," Thailog echoed.

"Thirty-Five," Tex muttered.

"Nine," Shari said.

"Three," M said leaning forward in his seat. "So…You're all here. I can assume then, that everything went according to my plan?"

"More or less," Kawa said. "They got away with one of the swords, but all the others have been recovered."

"I'll let you know Hildy's next move, as soon as we can figure out a good cover for how I escaped from the Ishimura pokey," Tex said, tipping his hat.

"One other thing you ought to know," Kawa said. "King Arthur has a new knight."

"How interesting," M said.

 _ **Never the End…**_


End file.
